Fight for justice for Iraq Six: Mother takes her battle to the High Court

Pat Long, whose son Paul was in a team of military police slain by a mob, fears there was a cover-up surrounding their deaths.

Corporal Long, 24, and his “Red Cap” colleagues were killed in Majar al-Kabir in June 2003.

The Brits only carried 50 bullets each and had no satellite phone to call for help.

Pat believes a 2005 Army board of inquiry and a 2006 inquest failed to ­uncover the truth about their deaths.

Last year she was refused a judicial review and is now appealing in the hope that decision will be overturned.

If she wins and the Ministry of Defence does not appeal, there will be a single independent inquiry.

Phil Shiner, a ­lawyer representing the family, said: “Pat has struggled for many years to achieve accountability for her son’s death despite the best efforts of the MoD to block her.

“She believes that there are systemic issues to explain why these six young men were left in a police station in Iraq without any ability to contact the ­outside world.

“Pat has struggled for many years to achieve accountability for her son’s death”

Phil Shiner, a ­lawyer representing the family

“A judicial review leading to an independent inquiry would have to unearth that and other troubling systemic issues in her case.” Mum-of-three Pat launched the legal action alone.

The families of Corporals Russell Aston, 30, and Simon Miller, 21, and Lance Corporals Benjamin Hyde, 23, and Tom Keys, 20, are bringing a claim under the Human Rights Act to try to force a public inquiry.

They believe the Army failed in its obligations to ­protect the lives of soldiers and to carry out a proper investigation into their deaths.

The sixth soldier who died in the brutal attack was Sergeant Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41.

This newspaper has previously revealed claims of a cover-up.

One former Paratrooper told the Daily Star Sunday troops had no idea the area the men were sent to was so dangerous.

And a former SAS colonel also claims to have “bombshell evidence” regarding the case.

Pat has been told her hearing will probably start on June 4.

An MoD spokesman said: “Our thoughts remain with the families of those killed in this terrible incident.

“However, the circumstances have been investigated extensively and reported on and no practical purpose would be served by holding a public inquiry.”